Global equity markets are falling hard as a further plunge by Chinese stocks sends shockwaves through global financial markets. We're tracking all the action in our live blog.

4:32 pm | Worst start to new year ever | by William Watts

It was another brutal day for stocks. The carnage left both the S&P 500 and the Dow with the worst performance over the first four days of a new year ever, according to Dow Jones data.

Here are the closing numbers for Thursday:

S&P 500 — down 47.17 points, or 2.4%, to 1,943.09–the biggest one-day drop since Sept. 28 and the lowest close since Oct. 1. The S&P 500 is down 4.93% in the first four days of the year, breaking the previous record of 4.48% set in 2000.

DJIA — down 392.41 points, or 2.3%, to 16,514.10. That was the biggest one-day drop since Sept. 1 and left the blue-chip index at its lowest close since Oct. 2. The blue-chip gauge's 5.23% 4-day drop exceeds the previous record of 4.53% set in 1978.

Nasdaq Composite — down 146.34 points, or 3%, to 4,689.43. That’s the biggest one-day percentage decline since Sept. 28. It’s six-day losing streak is the longest since Sept. 29 and it finished at its lowest level since Oct. 1. The index is down 6.35% in 2016, for its worst start since an 8.41% drop in 2000.

3:48 pm | Some 80 S&P 500 stocks sink to 52-week low | by Sue Chang

For an idea of how bad it is in the market, 29 out of 30 Dow components were in the red with about 10 minutes left to the closing bell. The sole exception to the blue chip bloodbath was Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

In the S&P 500, some 80 stocks hit their 52-week low today while only seven stocks were trading higher in the Nasdaq 100.

“It’s important for traders to note that just as last spring’s big rally was not supported by the Chinese economy, the big unraveling hasn’t had a major impact on the economy yet either,” Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, said in a note.

The Chinese government, armed with $3.3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, is also expected to aggressively stabilize the markets to restore confidence in the world’s second largest economy.

“Eventually things should settle out, but ongoing restrictions on trading mean it could drag on for a while so we may see higher volatility continue for some time,” said Cieszynski.

2:33 pm | Stocks on track for worst week since late August | by Wallace Witkowski

The last time things were this bad in a given week for stocks was the week of Aug. 21 (and the week’s not even over yet):

It might seem counterintuitive for U.S. investors to allocate a bigger share of their portfolio to developing markets at a time when China’s stock-market selloff rattles global markets right after a year of dreadful emerging-market performance.

But that is exactly what bond guru Bill Gross urges market participants to consider.

After weakening early in the session, some commodity currencies have recovered, rising against the dollar as oil prices moved off their lows.

The dollar is now flat against the Russian ruble and the Canadian dollar . It started the session higher against both rivals. The ruble recently traded at 74.60 to the dollar, while the dollar traded at C$1.41.

Though the dollar has held on to its gains against other emerging-market currencies like the Brazilian real and both the Mexican uand Chilean pesos .

1:14 pm | Nasdaq 2015 gains wiped out in four days | by Wallace Witkowski

Remember how the Nasdaq Composite Index posted modest gains in 2015? Well, with 2016 just four trading days old, those are history.

The best of the big three indexes of 2015 is so far leading the charge to the bottom so far in 2016.

The Nasdaq Composite Index on Thursday dropped more than 110 points, or 2.3%, to 4,724. For the year to date, the Nasdaq is down 5.7%. That essentially wipes out 2015′s gains, when the Nasdaq closed 2014 at 4,736.05.

12:55 pm | 1950 or less an entry point for S&P 500? | by Wallace Witkowski

As stocks have their worst start of a new calendar year in decades, strategist David Bianco at Deutsche Bank sees a long year ahead for the S&P 500.

So how low will the S&P 500 go before a turnaround? Bianco tells investors in a recent note to stay patient, that the S&P 500 could fall below 1,950, or even as low as 1,900, but not back to August lows, when the index dropped as low as 1,867.

The S&P 500 is currently down more than 4% for the year, down 1.4% Thursday alone, at 1,961.

The euro and yen are strengthening against the dollar Thursday as investors unwind bets on risky emerging-market currencies and buy back the currencies used to fund those bets.

The euro recently traded at $1.0852, up 0.7% on the day. Earlier, the yen rose to its highest level against the dollar in more than four months. It recently traded at 118.03 to the dollar, up 0.5% on the day.

Low interest rates and expectations of further monetary easing from both the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank have made the two currencies popular candidates for a speculative trading strategy known as the carry trade. Carry traders borrow in a currency with low interest rates, then park that money in a higher-yielding currency and collect the interest-rate spread -- using leverage to goose profits.

Beyond low rates, the yen is also benefiting from the perception that its economy is a safe place to park money during uncertain times. You can read more about that here.

The euro's strength helped lift other European currencies like the Swedish krona , Swiss franc and British pound .

11:34 am | No 'immediate end to market turbulence' | by William Watts

George Magnus, senior economic adviser at UBS, has penned a must-read blog post that does a great job explaining how and why China's currency and market turmoil is impacting markets around the globe.

Magnus notes the continued divergence between the onshore and offshore rates for the Chinese renminbi and how "uncertainty and often confusion in currency policy is also undermining financial confidence generally and adding to currency flight."

The problem, he says, it that China wants a stable currency but is adding liquidity at home to keep interest rates down and allowing excessive credit creation to continue. Those goals are simply incompatible.

That leaves it hard to see an immediate end to market turbulence, Magnus observes. He writes:

Western stock markets and economies will be more sensitive to what happens to China’s economy and to its banks, than to the gyrations in the Shanghai Composite. It would be another matter if the Chinese authorities either lost control of the currency because of capital flight, or embraced a formal and large devaluation of the renminbi.

Failing that, I suspect periodic and rising levels of economic tension will endure. Ironically, even though the immediate effects of a sharp drop in the renminbi would be to add to global economic pessimism, it could prove to be the ultimate successful circuit-breaker, at least for global markets.

– assuming it closes at this level it would be down about 700 points, or 4% over the first four trading days of the year. – this would be the worst start to a New year since 1991 when it fell 4.21% – The next worst level to watch is down 3.30% in 2008.

On a weekly performance basis — If the Dow were to close at the current level — it would be on track for its worst week since the week ended August 21, 2015 (point and percent).

10:12 am | Jobs report still matters | by William Watts

Global market carnage, including the continued plunge by commodities, has some investors worrying that maybe a major slowdown, or even a recession, might be lurking around the corner. But others argue that data, including the Friday jobs report, should give bulls a leg to stand on.

Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in a Thursday note, siad they expect "somewhat better news" on the U.S. economy to "help reverse some of this negative sentiment." They wrote:

There will be even deeper fixation on the monthly US employment report, as the labor market is likely getting close to measures of full employment. With the unemployment rate halved from its peak of 10%, wage pressures should follow from here, although workers have generally been disappointed so far. After the Federal Reserve finally kicked off the first rate hiking cycle in roughly a decade, both markets and policymakers will nervously watch the economy to see if indeed zero rates are no longer needed, as opposed to other central banks that have previously hiked rates, only to then reverse themselves and then some.

9:55 am | George Soros is reminded of 2008 | by William Watts

Billionaire investor George Soros added to the global gloom Thursday morning. Attending an economic forum in Sri Lanka, the hedge-fund legend drew parallels between the current market turmoil and the financial crisis of 2008.

China has a major adjustment problem that "amounts to a crisis," he said, according to Bloomberg. "When I look at the financial markets there is a serious challenge which reminds me of the crisis we had in 2008."

As Dow futures are down more than 300 points, there is some chatter on the Twittersphere whether the NYSE will invoke the Rule 48, a measure designed to smooth the opening of the market amid potentially volatile conditions.

The last two times the exchange invoked the rule was on September 1, 2015 and August 26, 2015 - that was when the stock market was smack in the middle of a correction.

According to Eric Hunsader, founder of Nanex LLC, there is only a 25% probability the rule would be invoked today.

The stock-market plunge has put bulls on the back foot to begin the year. Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James, acknowledges in a note that he's seen his share of "bad surprises" in the last three weeks.

For right now, Saut says the danger is that markets could be in the early stage of a self-reinforcing selloff:

For whatever reason, our stock market, at least at this point, looks like it is involved in a "selling stampede." Such stampedes tend to last 17-25 sessions with only one to three session pauses/rally attempts before they exhaust themselves, and we are only five sessions potentially into this one. This is why, in our year-end letter, we said the key for investors' success in 2016 is to manage the risk and avoid the big loss.

8:55 am | China sparks more turmoil | by William Watts

Another free-fall by Chinese stocks–and a trading halt–set the stage for more global market turmoil Thursday as investors wade further into a not-so-happy new year for equities.

Chinese stocks were halted around a half-hour after they opened as the Shanghai Composite fell more than 7%, again triggering circuit breakers. That leaves the benchmark index down 11.7% over the first four trading days of the year.

European stocks were on track for their worst day since September. US. stock index futures have moved off session lows but continue to point to a sharply lower drop at the opening bell, with the Dow on track to begin the session with a loss of more than 300 points.

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